Once Upon A Summer Day
by YuiKudo
Summary: Since he could remember, Tsuna has spent summer vacation in Italy. During his first vacation as a high school student, he meets an irreplaceable someone. Love blossoms, but much obstacles have to be overcome in order to be together.


**Author:** YuiKudo

 **Beta Reader:** Magical-Tear

 **Genre:** Romance

 **Pairing:** TsunaxOC

-...- for talking

"..." for thinking

 _italics_ usually for other language or flashback

 _Once Upon A Summer Day_

It was one of those typical summer days in Palermo where no sane soul would venture out, with the air heavy and the sun strong; those days when a handkerchief was never enough to stop the beads of sweat running down your forehead.

However, there were people who would challenge such weather and go out for a walk in the park, just like that brunet boy leaning against the tree. With his unruly brown hair swaying slightly in the soft breeze and his gentle chocolate brown eyes staring into space, he was quite the good-looking young man.

\- Tsuna! - someone shouted, catching his attention.

Running towards him was a girl with shoulder-length ginger hair and bright orange eyes. She was wearing a white ruffle skirt with a brown belt, and a dark orange blouse and low heels.

\- Luce - mumbled the teenage boy, walking out from under the tree's shadow.

Right away he noticed the difference in temperature. He even had to squint his eyes in order to see the figure coming towards him better.

\- Did you wait for long? - the girl asked, smiling faintly. She didn't look as exhausted as a normal person would have after such a run.

Her diligent boyfriend shook his head. - Nope, I just got here.

\- Liar... - grumbled the ginger head, glaring at the ground.

The boy smiled nervously at how fast he was found out. He could hide nothing from her, she could completely see through him.

\- S-should we get going? - he proposed, trying to change the subject.

\- Alright... - the girl, unwillingly, agreed.

The two walked side by side through the park, enjoying the green scenery, though the distance between them was quite abnormal since they were a couple.

" _Here we go again,_ " Tsuna thought, rather irritated.

Even though they were on a date, even though they had been in a relationship for over a month, they had never even held hands. Much worse, they always walked a fair distance away from each other.

The brunet had tried to overcome this a couple of times but Luce had avoided every attempt of contact, always in a subtle manner. Nevertheless, it still hurt his feelings.

\- Where should we go, Luce? - he asked, trying to distract himself from such thoughts.

\- Mm… Is there somewhere _you_ want to go? I'm always choosing - the girl argued.

\- Just being with you is fine by me.

Luce's eyes widened at the confession. She couldn't believe such words were coming from the usually shy guy, so naturally her reaction was to blush scarlet and avoid eye contact.

Seeing her reaction, the boy also felt embarrassed by his own words. How could he say something like that? It was true but... He wasn't that bold a person!

The embarrassment didn't die down until they entered a bar and sat down for a coffee or a snack, whichever it was.

\- _Vorrei un frappè alla fragola con panna_ (I would like a strawberry milkshake with whipped cream) - the ginger-haired girl ordered.

\- _E per lei, signore?_ (And for you, sir?) - the waiter asked, turning towards Tsuna.

\- _A-acqua._ (Water)

The man nodded and walked away to get their order, which meant the two were free to speak in whichever language they preferred.

\- Tsuna, relax! I can assure you that your Italian isn't strange at all - said Luce, smiling at her partner in a reassuring way.

\- I believe you, Luce, but... - Tsuna mumbled, reverting back to his insecure self.

There was a moment of silence as the ginger-haired girl came up with a better way to encourage the boy.

\- If you can successfully ask for the bill, I will bring you to a beautiful place - she proposed, winking at her boyfriend.

A blush immediately covered the brunet's cheeks, which made him resemble a ripe tomato.

Luce chuckled, hardly keeping herself from laughing out loud. He was just too cute, and an urge to pinch his cheeks made its way into her heart but she quickly suppressed it. The fear was far too great.

\- _I-il conto... Per favore.._ \- Tsuna shakingly asked.

\- _Certo signore_ \- answered the waiter, nodding at the couple.

When he walked away, the teenager turned towards his girlfriend, silently asking her if he did well.

\- You did great.

It was like encouraging a kid whenever he did something good, thought the girl, but seeing his happy smile made it worth it.

\- Come on, I will show you how beautiful Palermo is!

With those encouraging words, the brunet followed his partner, trusting her with his life. However, he started doubting that when they found themselves in the woods.

\- Luce...? - he asked, his eyes fixed on the girl's back.

\- Don't worry! Everything is alright - the girl answered, not even turning back to look at him.

Tsuna trusted her; it was the path they had taken that he didn't trust as much.

\- Ah! We are almost there - announced the ginger head.

A blinding light hit Decimo's eyes. They were finally out of the woods and for a second the boy had to close his eyes. When he finally opened them, a marvelous sight greeted him.

They were standing on a high cliff overlooking the city. The cliff was covered in different types of flowers, from red to yellow, from yellow to purple and so on.

A soft breeze blew by as Tsuna took in the view while his eager partner made herself comfortable between the flowers.

\- Beautiful, isn't it? - Luce asked, calmly making a wreath of flowers, though it was coming out quite horribly.

\- Yeah - the boy agreed, gaze still fixed on her. The view wasn't the only thing that had left him speechless.

The city seemed rather dull from a normal perspective but up there everything appeared to shine in a new light.

\- This place holds a very important place in my heart - he heard the girl mumble.

\- Why? - he asked curiously.

The ginger looked up from her work, meeting the boy's eyes before she averted her gaze and stared at the distant horizon.

\- I don't know... I can't seem to remember.

Tsuna would have questioned her further but when he saw her get up with a saddened expression, he backed down and stayed quiet.

\- Shall we go? - she suggested, smiling like always.

The brunet smiled back, he could only do that. It wasn't his intuition telling him that she was lying; he could see it painfully painted on her face. She was a horrible liar yet he couldn't figure out everything else that was going on in her mind.

And that's how he ended up asking his best friend, Gokudera Hayato, for advice. Though the guy knew next to nothing about girls, he was smart; he could figure something out, right?

\- I say she doesn't actually love you - was his friend's conclusion.

The shorter of the two spit his water and glared, for the first time, at the other.

\- How did you come up with such an absurd idea? - he questioned, _angrily._

\- W-well, she rejects every contact with you, right? She doesn't actually love you. That's the most logical conclusion, Tenth! - argued the silver-haired guy.

Tsuna sighed. He shouldn't have asked him after all. He shook his head and tried to convince himself that it was _definitely_ something else.

\- If I may ask, how did you end up together in the first place, Tenth? - Hayato asked, curious.

\- We met the 2nd of June, during the open market. After that we continued running into each other and we eventually became friends and started hanging out - explained the brunet with a small smile.

 _It was another of their usual friendly hangouts at the park and another of those hot days that characterized the month of July in Palermo._

 _\- Ne, Tsuna... Let's get gelato! - proposed Luce, running to the gelato stand._

 _He just smiled and followed._

 _-_ Fiordilatte, vaniglia e cioccolato! (Fior di latte, vanilla and chocolate) _\- the ginger-haired girl ordered, showing the same excitement a child would._

\- Subito, signurina (Right away, missy) - _answered the man behind the stand, getting to work._

 _\- And you, Tsuna? - Luce asked, switching to Japanese to speak to the boy._

 _\- Banana and strawberry flavor - the brunet answered._

 _\- Okay, here is what you have to say:_ "Un gelato alla banana e fragola" - _the ginger instructed, stressing every syllable of each word so the other could understand and repeat after her._

 _The Japanese boy was a little taken aback that she wasn't the one ordering for him but making_ him _order instead._

 _\- Luce... I don't think- he tried to argue. However, he was cut short by the girl._

 _\- Say it._

 _Tsuna sighed and turned towards the man, who was smiling at them in an understanding way._

 _-_ U-un gerato a-ara... - _he glanced at his companion for help, but she just smiled at him._ -Banana e fragora.

 _He felt as if he had conquered the world when the vendor started scooping up the flavor he wanted._

 _\- See? It didn't go that bad - commented Luce, already eating her gelato, a handkerchief wrapped around the cone._

 _\- Y-yeah - answered Tsuna, grabbing his cone with two scoops of banana and strawberry ice cream from the man._

 _After paying and already on their way to another part of the park, they heard the vendor call out to them._

 _-_ Turnate àncora, picciotti! - _he shouted with a knowing grin._

 _The brunet turned to Luce and was about to ask for translations when he noticed her tomato-red face._

 _\- Luce...? - he asked, cautiously._

 _\- H-he said... "C-come back again... l-l-lovebirds"... - the girl mumbled, though the boy heard it loud and clear._

 _He too blushed as red as a tomato, then he turned his head the other way and began eating his melting gelato, trying to ignore his loudly beating heart._

 _\- ...Tsuna - Luce broke the silence._

 _\- Y-yes? - he asked nervously, still not looking at the girl._

 _\- What if I said that I liked you? Not like a friend, but as something more... - she confessed._

 _Tsuna immediately turned to look at the ginger, who was still blushing red, with eyes wide open._

 _\- I li… I like you too! - he shouted._

 _Luce looked at him surprised before smiling brightly._

 _-_ And that's how it went - finished the brunet teen.

His silver-haired friend looked to be thinking deeply about something until his expression relaxed and he looked at him.

\- Still, she did not say 'I like you' - pointed out Hayato.

" _I'm going to murder you, Gokudera Hayato,_ " cursed Tsuna, glaring at his friend for the second time that day.

\- Stop thinking about such absurd things! - he shouted angrily.

\- But Tenth- the other started but was interrupted by the angry brunet.

\- I just asked you why she keeps rejecting every contact with me! I know she loves me, that's why it hurts so much whenever she avoids me.

Hayato tried to come up with another reason, however, he needed more information on the girl before throwing his next idea at the fuming Decimo.

\- Tenth, does she perhaps avoid other people too?

Serious brown eyes met his and, for a second, Gokudera felt as if there was a completely different person standing before him.

\- She does... Now that I think about it - Tsuna answered after a moment of silence.

\- In that case... Tenth, please, stay calm and listen to me - said Hayato, trying to stay as calm as possible himself because, if his deduction was right, then... This couple most likely couldn't have a future.

\- I'm listening - answered the Decimo in an uncharacteristically serious tone.

\- If she not only avoids contact with you but with other people too, then something terrible must have happened to her... I think she might have been... - the silver-haired teen purposely left his sentence unfinished. He didn't want to be the one to say the baleful truth.

The brunet boy wasn't as stupid as to not figure out what the other was hinting at and for some reason his friend's conclusion seemed to explain the whole situation perfectly-to a certain degree at least.

" _She must have been... abused. Or worse..._ " his thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a statement made by Hayato, which he should have never even thought about.

\- Or maybe it's worse... Maybe she was rap…- surely he was not going to let him end that phrase. He would refuse such reality to the very bitter end.

\- Don't say any more! After all, I shouldn't have asked you. It's as if I don't trust Luce at all! She would have surely told me of something like that...!

There were a few minutes of silence as Tsuna tried to regain his breath from his sudden outburst.

\- Uhm... Tenth? She's... - the silverette said, pointing behind the brunet.

Slowly the boy turned around, fearing the worst. And that's exactly what he found.

Luce was standing there, small tears running down her cheeks. She blinked her eyes in a futile attempt to stop the tears and her lips trembled as she tried to prevent sobs from spilling out. She was trying her best to not breakdown.

\- I'm... sorry... I really... am... - she sobbed, looking directly into her boyfriend's eyes.

\- Luce... - whispered Tsuna, walking toward her.

He lifted a hand, wanting to wipe off the tears, but he was stopped by a shout from the girl.

\- Don't touch me!

He froze as if his heart had stopped beating that minute, his hand still reaching out for her but never closing the distance.

\- How dare you? - shouted Hayato, quick to interfere.

\- Don't, Hayato! - ordered Tsuna, his bangs shadowing his eyes. - Please, just go ahead without me.

The silver-haired boy wanted to protest but one look at his boss made him rethink his decision, so he headed home with his head hung low.

\- Luce, what's wrong? - questioned Tsuna, giving her an understanding smile when the two were finally alone.

He would be an idiot for not noticing how much the girl was shaking. Something was going on and he wanted-no, needed to know.

\- Tsuna... - the girl said, looking at the boy, who smiled back at her.

\- Tell me everything.

Even though the tears were now streaming down her cheeks, Tsuna did not panic because the smile she was giving him let him know that she trusted him with her whole being.

They walked in silence toward a secluded part of the park and sat down on an empty bench with the ever-present distance dividing them.

\- This might sound weird but... I cannot really touch you because... You see, the reason is... I'm what people call a ghost. I... I am not human.

The brunet teen wanted to sigh, at least it was not one of the absurd ideas that Hayato was trying to feed him, but he didn't. " _Damn Hyper Intuition. How damn useless you are in this kind of situations!_ " cursed Tsuna, glaring at the ground with a burning passion.

Her being a ghost made even more sense; how she would always appear out of nowhere, how sometimes it seemed as if she would just disappear and many other things he had ignored until that moment.

\- I had an accident many years ago in which I probably died. However I had a very important promise to fulfill so I took on this form but... I can't touch humans, otherwise, I will disappear - Luce finished, her voice calm until the very end.

Tsuna was glad. He knew the whole story now, knew why she rejected contact with him. Sure he was shocked, but he was also relieved.

\- How many years have you been living like this? - he felt the need to ask.

\- About 10 years... Everyone that knew me must have moved on, even _that person -_ answered the ginger head, her eyes sad as she focused on a random crack on the floor.

\- That person?

Luce looked up and met the boy's eyes and her usual smile greeted him. She was trying to hide her emotions again.

\- The person from that promise... - she replied, her tone soft even though it carried heavy feelings with it.

The brunet understood that was as much as he could ask for today, all his other questions could wait.

\- I will be extra careful from now on... I don't want to lose you - he promised, smiling lovingly at his girlfriend.

\- Me too - Luce answered back.

Now that he knew the ginger-haired girl's secret, he became really cautious about his actions as well as those of other people too. He wouldn't allow her to disappear. He wouldn't let someone important to him disappear again.

" _Huh?_ _Again_ _? I don't remember losing someone precious to me,_ " Tsuna mused, trying to recall memories long forgotten.

\- _Let's meet again next summer! -_

" _What was that?_ " the teenage boy wondered, confused. He didn't have time to think it over since his girlfriend had arrived at their rendezvous point.

Once again they were out on a date, this time it was a night date since the days were becoming hotter and hotter and comfort could only be found during the night.

He tried not to think of that strange memory that suddenly surfaced, and concentrated on the conversation with his companion.

\- Didn't you say you were finally going to move to Italy? - asked the ginger-haired girl.

\- After I finish high school. In two more years - Tsuna answered.

The girl processed the information before pouting.

\- I will miss you during the winter - she mumbled, more to herself than anything.

Tsuna acted as if he didn't hear her. It was better like that, otherwise things would have turned awkward like always. He quickly tried to change the topic to hopefully distract the girl.

\- Luce, what was the promise you had to fulfill at all costs? - he asked, curious.

\- I can't remember... I've heard that it was probably the reason why I died and that's why I can't recall it - explained Luce with the smallest hint of sadness.

\- Nothing at all?

\- Uhm... The promise was about meeting someone... He said he comes to Italy every summer.

They were currently waiting to cross the road at an intersection while a few cars were passing.

\- I will help you remember then - suggested Tsuna, beginning to walk across when he saw no cars coming and the green light lit for pedestrians.

\- Really? - the ginger asked, walking just a few steps behind him.

Suddenly a bright light blinded her, the loud honking sound of a car numbed her senses and time seemed to slow down.

The next thing she knew was that she and Tsuna were on the other side of the road. They were holding hands.

\- L-Luce...?! - Tsuna choked out, looking on the verge of having a panic attack.

\- I acted out of instinct - answered the girl with a smile.

Suddenly the boy could no longer feel warmth coming from the girl's hand and nothingness seemed to become more and more present as the seconds passed. The ginger head's body was slowly turning into light specks.

\- Why?! - Tsuna shouted, not wanting to believe this was the end.

\- It's fine - Luce reassured him, smiling like always. She stepped closer and hugged him. - I've always wanted to feel your warmth.

\- M-me too - the brunet sobbed, hugging her back.

\- Hey, Tsuna... I actually fulfilled my promise... Please don't forget about me because I will always lo- she had tried to reach up to give the boy a goodbye kiss, but her body broke into light particles when their lips touched.

Tsuna was left with nothing but the necklace he had given her for her birthday, which had been just a couple of days ago. A necklace with a butterfly charm; it was simple but it made her very happy.

\- Now I remember too, Luce. I'm happy I finally got to meet you again - he mumbled, finally remembering what happened all those years ago.

His heart felt at peace for some strange reason. She wasn't something made from his imagination nor did she betray him. The evidence of that had been with him for more than two months.

He turned around and walked back in the direction _they_ came from. Tsuna swore to himself that he would never forget her, engraving her last smile in his memories forever.

 _I will always love you, Tsuna._

 _I will always love you too, Luce._

Two summers had passed since that fateful day. Life was going on like always and summer days were as hot as usual for Palermo.

\- Can't believe I refused to come here for two whole summers... - cursed an 18-year-old teen.

He was tall and lean, with brown gravity-defying hair and captivating chocolate brown eyes. His skin was slightly tan and his smile was alluring to those who had the chance to see it. Many women would stop to get a better look at him prior to walking away, giggling like school girls having their first crush, even if it was obvious that they could no longer be referred to as such.

The young man looked at the sky and sighed. If only they knew what kind of loser he used to be or, in someone's opinion, still is.

He passed by the old gelato stand and smiled at the man, who recognized him as the shy boy who would depend on his girlfriend for translations.

\- ' _Giorno signore!_ \- he greeted and engaged in a conversation with the man, surprising him with his fluent Italian.

After a while, he bid his goodbyes to which the man answered with a " _Turna a truvarme!_ " which could be translated as " _Come back again._ "

He walked down the route he once walked down with his girlfriend, for the last time.

" _Luce_..." he thought, he could still remember her ginger hair...

All of a sudden he stopped and turned around. A girl with the _same_ hair color just passed by him!

\- Luce? - he called, running after the girl.

\- _Si?_ \- she asked, turning around. Orange eyes met brown eyes.

That was her - there was no way that it wasn't her.

\- Luce, it's me - Tsuna said, forcing the tears back. He couldn't possibly cry during their reunion, it would be pathetic.

The ginger-head looked at him confused, scared even. She took a cautious step back.

\- _Lu, sbrigati!_ (Lu, hurry up!) - shouted someone from a few meters away.

The person was a girl with blonde hair and grayish-blue eyes hidden behind thick glasses. Her hair was up in a ponytail and she was glaring daggers at the brunet boy.

Luce slowly turned toward the girl and began walking in her direction, crutch always one step ahead of her while she took slow, shaky steps behind it.

" _A crutch?_ " the boy was shocked to say the least. What was going on?

\- _Scusa! -_ he said, stopping the ginger-head from going further by placing his hand on her shoulder.

Once again, the girl turned towards him, confusion clearly written on her face.

\- _Is your name really Luce?_ \- Tsuna questioned, thankful he had persisted through those hellish Italian classes.

The girl only nodded at him.

\- _It's me, Tsunayoshi Sawada. We met two years ago and I was your-_ the teen boy was forcibly interrupted by the blonde girl punching him on the ribs.

" _That hurt! What's more, I didn't see it coming._ " It really caught him by surprise. He was no longer Dame-Tsuna yet the girl was able to get close to him without him noticing her and get a clean hit.

\- _Is there something wrong? If not, we would like to get going -_ she said, her calm tone as cold as ice.

\- _Y-yes. I would like to know more about your friend._

Tsuna knew he had screwed up when he saw her gray eyes narrow behind her glasses.

\- _I didn't mean it like that! It's just that it seems like she has forgotten about me -_ he quickly explained before the other decided to hit him again.

\- _My friend here has been in a 10-year coma. Since she was five up until the accident when she was six, and even two years ago when she woke up, I've always been with her. I don't remember ever seeing you though -_ the girl answered, taking off her glasses so that she could glare better.

The brunet teen blinked. 10-year coma? Two years ago? " _Luce was a ghost for 10 years and two years ago she disappeared._ " He didn't know how he should react to that discovery. Be happy? Cry? Both? The coma must have been a result of her soul exiting her body and surely touching her soul must have helped her go back inside.

\- _Now if you will excuse us._

He let them go but obviously followed them, being careful not to be spotted. There was no way he was going to let her go again. First time he dealt with it by forgetting her, second time he became depressed, and so he swore that there would never be a third time.

Tsuna was successfully able to find out where the two girls lived, stealthily following them without being noticed and without attracting too much attention while doing so.

" _I never thought I would say this but... Those lessons Reborn gave me are pretty handy_ , _"_ he thought, part of him doubting that he was actually thankful for meeting the sadistic baby.

Aside from the fact that he was having such strange thoughts, he quickly memorized the address where the two lived, he will most likely need it if he wanted to know as much as he wanted about the girl. He did exactly that.

In the next two months prior to Luce's birthday, on the 12th of August, Tsuna would frequently go out of his way to make their meetings seem accidental, which appeared to be working since the ginger was warming up to him enough to smile from time to time in his presence.

The brunet boy was also smooth enough to win over Serena's, her overprotective best friend, trust - which was no walk to the park mind you. She was like a mother-to-be with her eggs. She got rid of everyone that got near the ginger head and sometimes it was more than just telling them off.

" _All my hard work is finally paying off,_ " Tsuna thought as he got ready to go pick Luce up. Today, 12th of August 20XX, he was allowed to go out on a date with the girl, _alone._ Granted that he was only permitted to do that because Serena had to prepare a secret birthday party for her and she wanted the ginger out of the picture for a while.

Since it was one of those usual hot days, that characterized the summers of Palermo, the brunet decided to wear a white and black t-shirt over a gray dress shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and black skinny jeans. To finish the look, he wore black and orange sneakers.

\- _Don't you dare lay a finger on her_ \- was the warning Serena gave him before trusting the ginger in his hands.

The teen boy could only smile nervously. He was smart enough to do better than that. And besides, he had other plans.

Those plans involved in trying to recreate their most important dates, in order to stimulate Luce into remembering those 10 years - even just the few months in which they were together was enough. In order to do that, he brought her to their usual meeting place, the park.

\- _I didn't know_ _such a green place existed_ _... -_ he heard his partner mumble.

He smiled, this was the second time he was hearing her say that.

\- _How about some gelato?_ \- Tsuna proposed, pointing at the same old gelato stand.

A small nod was his only answer.

\- _Bongiorno!_ (Good morning) _-_ the man at the stand greeted them.

\- _Salve, per la signorina una coppa con fiordilatte, vaniglia e cioccolato, e per me…_ _Banana e fragola._ (Hello, for the miss a cup with fior di latte, vanilla and chocolate, and for me… Banana and strawberry.)

Tsuna didn't miss the face of surprise Luce made when he ordered for her, asking exactly what she had wanted.

\- _Grazie -_ the couple said at the same time, perfectly synchronized.

They held each other's gaze for a few minutes before looking away, blushing like innocent kids during their first crush. Said sight made the vendor chuckle. The two were innocently in love with each other and just standing by the other's side was enough to make them happy - at least that's what he saw when looking at them.

It wasn't that much of a surprise when he decided to offer them the ice cream for free.

As he watched them walk away, he recognized them as that same couple he served two years ago on a hot summer day like this one.

Tsuna secretly watched as his date ate her ice cream, inwardly sighing because his plan didn't work. He had hoped that by bringing her there she would somehow remember something from her time as a ghost but… Nothing.

He was only left with one last option: to bring her to the place they met all those years ago.

\- _Luce, there is somewhere I would like to take you_.

It was as if the girl thought she didn't have much say in it, so she just nodded and followed him. During the trip, she had to depend on him a lot with getting on the bus and other things. However, when faced with the last obstacle, she wasn't so sure she wanted to keep following him.

\- _Uhm... Please trust me?_ \- the brunet teen asked.

For the first time, Luce didn't hesitate in answering him with a 'yes'. The boy smiled at the progress he had made and crouched down, before the ginger.

\- _It will be difficult for you to walk up so... -_ he explained, feeling his face heat up and not because of the sun.

He felt the girl walk closer to him and she slowly rested her arms on his shoulders and pressed her body close to his back. After that, it was really easy to lift her up and get them into a position in which she wouldn't be too uncomfortable and he wouldn't fall forward.

" _She's so light,_ " he couldn't help but observe as he began walking through the path that lead to that heaven-sent place on top of the hill.

It wasn't an easy path since at certain points it would just go straight upwards, but it wasn't difficult - at least it was not like those cliffs he had to climb during his training with Reborn.

\- _We are here_ \- he announced, going down on one knee so the girl could get off.

Luce looked around in amazement, her orange eyes sparkled with genuine wonder. She placed a handkerchief on the ground and sat on top of it, she was probably tired.

\- _This place holds dear memories to me_ \- confessed Tsuna, looking at the horizon.

\- _Why...?_ \- the ginger asked quietly.

The brunet wanted to chuckle. It was as if they had exchanged roles.

\- _Here, this is a birthday present from me_ \- he said, offering her a small orange box.

\- _...Thank you -_ she answered as she took the gift.

For whatever reason, Tsuna felt embarrassed so, in an attempt to shake the feeling off, he stared at the scenery.

Meanwhile, the ginger-haired girl sat there, staring at the small box. The wrapping was orange and the ribbon gold, her two favorite colors.

" _How does he know so many things about me?_ " she wondered, unwrapping the packaging and peeking inside the mysterious box.

A silvery glint greeted her. It was that of a necklace with a butterfly charm. The butterfly's shape was elegant yet simple, it wasn't covered in small shining stones, which she wasn't fond of. It was just the kind of present that she had dreamt of getting from her future boyfriend when she was little.

Small beads of tears started rolling down her cheeks.

 _Boyfriend._

The word didn't sound foreign to her, as if she had used it often before but... When? When did she ever had the chance to call someone with such title?

" _It's all so confusing..._ " She couldn't wrap her mind around the strange feeling. Her heart throbbed and her stomach felt empty as if she was forgetting something very important.

\- _Luce?! Are you alright? Why are you crying?_ \- Tsuna questioned, kneeling in front of her.

\- I'm alright, Tsuna - she answered, drying her tears and smiling weakly at the brunet.

His chocolate orbs, which were giving her such a worried look, widened to the size of dinner plates and his lips, which were slightly parted, now formed a big 'o' in shock.

\- Luce, was that Japanese just now...? - the boy asked, incredulously.

\- Yes? - the girl answered.

Nothing could have stopped him from taking the girl into his arms and giving her a bone-crushing hug. However, something did and it was the fear of her vanishing if he touched her.

\- Don't worry, I won't disappear this time.

His tears flowed freely as he allowed himself to be overcome with the immense feelings that he felt for the girl before him. He hugged her tightly, smiling over the fact that she was very warm. Warm because she was alive.


End file.
